Bookmark & Share

YesAsia Editorial Description

Director Wilson Yip reteams with action director Sammo Hung for the blistering crime thriller Paradox, the third film of the SPL series. Louis Koo, who appeared in SPL 2, takes the lead role this time, delivering an intense performance as a hard-boiled cop searching for his abducted daughter in Thailand. The role has won Koo Best Actor prizes at the 37th Hong Kong Film Awards and the 12th Asian Film Awards. Packed with brutal action scenes, the hard-hitting thriller co-stars martial artist Wu Yue (The Brink), Gordon Lam, Wolf Warriors' Chris Collins and Tony Jaa in a special appearance.

Hong Kong cop Lee (Louis Koo) heads to Thailand after his teenage daughter (Hanna Chan) suddenly goes missing during her trip. In Bangkok, he tries to track down his daughter with the help of local officers Chui Kit (Wu Yue) and Tak (Tony Jaa), but the murky investigation quickly turns dangerous. Faced with a cover-up at higher levels involving a cruel crime ring and a powerful politician, Lee goes rogue to find his daughter at all costs.

This edition comes with action, cast, director and story featurettes and trailers.

Product Information

Hong Kong cop Lee (Louis Koo) goes on a search in Thailand for his missing daughter Chi (Hanna Chan). Thai Chinese police officer Chui Kit (Wu Yue) lets Lee join the investigation, having no idea that lee is going to use the mass media to hunt for clues.

A short clip which accidentally filmed Chi’s capture is uploaded to the police website, but subsequently deleted. Shui Kit and colleague Tak (Tony Jaa) tracks down the clip owner, but the evidence is destroyed before they can stop it. The mduo begins tracking down the culprit. As they get closer to the truth, they realize that the case is more complicated than they expected, and the mastermind behind the scene is not someone they can deal with….

Additional Information may be provided by the manufacturer, supplier, or a third party, and may be in its original language

YumCha! Asian Entertainment Reviews and Features

Professional Review of "Paradox (2017) (Blu-ray) (Hong Kong Version)"

February 26, 2018

The SPL (Shā Pò Láng) series continues with third instalment Paradox, unconnected to either the 2005 original or the belated SPL 2: A Time for Consequences from 2015. Director Wilson Yip takes back the reins from Soi Cheang, who remains as the producer, along with a returning Paco Wong, with the legendary Sammo Hung back as action choreographer. The film sees Louis Koo taking centre stage, playing a very angry cop who travels to Thailand after his daughter is abducted, coming up against the ruthless Gordon Lam (Trivisa) and backed by local officers Wu Yue (The Brink) and Thai martial arts star Tony Jaa.

The film opens with Louis Koo as steely police negotiator Lee, who heads to Thailand after his sixteen-year-old daughter (Hanna Chan), who is abducted during a trip to Pattaya. Teaming up with local cops Chui Kit (Wu Yue) and Tak (Tony Jaa), he's soon facing off against corrupt police officers and caught up in a conspiracy involving an organ-smuggling ring led by an American crime boss (Chris Collins, Wolf Warrior), linked to a powerful Thai politician and his sinister aide (Gordon Lam). Things inevitably turn violent, and when Lee finds himself on the wrong side of the law and needing to bust a serious number of heads.

While some viewers might have preferred the SPL series to take the more traditional route of churning out sequels, by sticking to unconnected stories it gives the filmmakers far more leeway in the direction the films take and in what they do with the characters. Whatever the benefits of the SPL brand name, Paradox certainly works very well as a gritty, relentlessly bleak thriller in its own right, and Wilson Yip does a great job of mixing martial arts action with police procedural drama and social issues. Though there's nothing new to its tale of organ trafficking, kidnapping and corruption, the film's dark tone really helps, and while retaining the theme of fate from the SPL 2, it takes things in a much more depressing direction. Yip keeps things tight and tense, working in some surprising plot developments through a series of revelations that it quickly becomes clear are not leading things towards a cheerful conclusion. Some great performances also give things a kick, Louis Koo doing an impressively physical approximation of Liam Neeson's Taken murder machine, Wu Yue providing believable moral grounding, and Tony Jaa adding a likeable if bizarre twist through his sadly brief appearance as a possible psychic.

The grounded plot and characters really help when it comes to giving the action and violence a real edge and elevated air of danger. As with the original SPL, Yip shows a great sense of timing in the way that he gradually escalates the intensity and scale of the set pieces and battles, aided by some excellent choreography from Sammo Hung, which arguably ranks as his best in years. It's brutal, bone-crunching stuff, with shootouts and chase scenes combining with brawls, beatings, stabbings and torture, making for a visceral and thrilling experience, much more so than with other Hong Kong genre offerings of late. Without really straying far from his comfort zone Yip directs with a controlled verve, and the Thai setting gives the film somewhat of a different atmosphere, the less familiar surroundings and culture working well to make Koo's Lee even more of a troubled outsider figure rather than a straightforward hero.

As a tangential third entry in a series arguably needing a shot in the arm to justify its existence, Paradox is certainly much better than might have been expected and one of the better and more brutal Hong Kong thrillers of the last while. Boosted by a strong cast and by some excellent work by Sammo Hung, the film marks a welcome return for Wilson Yip; and gives hope that an SPL 4, whatever it might entail, might continue to take the franchise in an interesting direction.